Good Morning Good Morning
by xIrelandx
Summary: Pt 2 of Young Volcanoes: Classes are starting. Time to hate your roommate.
1. stuck now so long

"Karkles," Terezi croons in his ear. Can't she see that he's trying to sleep? "Come on Karkles. You are not exempt from the wake-up calls." Yes he is. She just does't know it yet. And honestly, she does not want him to get up out of this bed. She will regret it.

Terezi and a select few, including his roommate and that one freshman girl with glasses that Tavros likes, are morning people. However, it's Terezi who goes around waking everyone up. After an all-nighter of gaming with Gamzee, though, Karkat wants to sleep in. She isn't having that, though. She won't listen to reason, and what he has to say is most definitely reason.

"Get the fuck out and let me sleep till my balls shrivel up and blow away in the goddamned wind," he snaps after her latest croon.

"Awww, that's a waste of anatomy if I ever heard one." Terezi then flounces onto the bed and rolls on him. "Get up, Karkles!"

"I can't. There's something on top of me," he snarls. Did he give her keys to every room in the house? Karkat doesn't fucking think so. How is she able to do this?

"Ooo, I like the way you talk to me."

"What fucking time is it?" He glares at the clock, waiting for his eyesight to adjust. "What the fuck, it's 6:46! Why are you doing this to me?!"

"But you have classes!" she whines.

"On a Saturday?"

"Details, el presidente! You've got a thing to do! Like sponsor a freshman!"

"No I don't."

"If you don't get up, I'll take the coffee pot right out of Tavros's hands and dump its contents onto you. Do you want that? Do you want me to steal the dreams of a wheelchair bound brother?"

Does she even acknowledge that she's just threatened to scald him? No. She's concerned about hurting Tavros's feelings. Of fucking course. "Go away, Terezi," he growls one last time. "Let me sleep."

"Get up now, or I'll be forced to use this!" She must be holding one of Gamzee's horns. The only reason he knows this is because it accidentally honks directly into his exposed ear which she had been crooning into minutes before.

Karkat has had it. Perhaps it's the fact that she's blown a goddamn horn in his ear. Perhaps it's that a wave of jealousy has overwhelmed him. After all, when had she been hanging out with Gamzee long enough to take one of his honkers? Perhaps it's simply the hour of the day. No matter what the reason might be, somehow he's driven to shove the laughing Terezi out of his bed, get up, take two large steps to Tavros's bed, then pick up Tavros's entire mattress (sheets, pillows, and all), and fling it at Terezi. She's knocked to the ground momentarily as she's assaulted by blanket and plush. He steps over her and the mattress, crawls back into bed, then promptly forgets about his burst of energy and outrage.

Until she starts laughing maniacally at him from under the bedding. He then covers his head with his pillow, desperate to ignore her. It isn't until Tavros rolls into the room that Karkat acknowledges the existence of anyone else in the household. "Um, guys? What . . . what happened to my bed?" He sounds so distraught, and Terezi just continues laughing and sounding oh so pleased with herself.

Some days, Karkat just can't with the world.


	2. just got the start wrong

"Alright shitheads, it's time we decided who's gonna play big brother to which new jerkoff." Karkat has called them all out in a line in the living room. Equius is the only one standing at attention, the way Karkat wants. Karkat's not exactly pleased about this, though - the guy is sweating heavily and muttering something about needing a towel. The rest of his cohorts are slouched in some way, arms crossed or hands in pockets. Feferi is more concerned with her nails than with the task at hand.

"Now, we've developed a system of our own for comprising our own little fucked up families. Since everyone insisted on being a goddamn individual, we had to go by signs of the zodiac: Gamzee the Capricorn, Tavros the Taurus, Vriska the Scorpio, Kanaya the Virgo, Eridan the Aquarius, Feferi the Pisces, Equius the Sagittarius, Nepeta the Leo, Terezi the Libra, Aradia the Aries, Sollux the Gemini, and me the Cancer."

"Yes Karkles, we know this already."

"Shut up!" Karkat shouts. "Now, obviously, we should just put the freshmen slum in the families of their own goddamn astrological signs. Secretary Leijon!"

"Yessir!" Nepeta snaps to attention, giving Karkat a salute.

"What's the report on the newbies?"

"Uhm," Nepeta fishes a folded-up piece of notebook paper from her paw-ket. "Well, John's birthday is April the thirteenth -"

"Isn't that Pi Day?" Equius interrupts.

"Nah bro," Gamzee replies. "That's March the fourteenth. Pi is 3.14 -"

"Shut it!" Karkat snaps. He turns back to his secretary. "Please continue, Nepeta."

"Right!" she beems. "John would thereby be in House Aries with Aradia. The others..." Nepeta trails off, frowning. "Hm. Well, Jade, Dave, and Rose are all born in December, basically all back to back. So they'd bee in House Sagittarius with Equius."

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Vriska shrieks. "He can't even hold a glass of milk without it snapping in two. You really wanna trust him with three freshmen?"

Nepeta's growling, the paper in her claws shaking. Sensing a fight on the rise, Karkat crosses to her and covers one of her hands with his own. She stops hissing immediately, color rising to her cheeks. "I agree, it's unfair, both to Equius and the rest of us to give him three littles and leave us with none."

Equius brushes his hair back. "Okay, so what do you suggest then, Vriska?"

The group turns to her. She frowns, arms crossed. "I don't know, maybe just go by whoever we bonded with most at the party?"

"Open house, Serket. Call it a party and we get put on probation." Karkat frowns, arms crossed. "That would work out okay for Jade - clearly she'd go with Tavros. But none of the rest of you spent a lot of time getting chummy with the kids -"

"Oh you're one to talk," Eridan snaps.

"At least I didn't push them out of the way -"

Terezi slams her cane on the ground three times, like a gavel in a courtroom. "Quiet! There must be some way to determine -"

"Wait yo, I have it!" Gamzee steps out of line, heading to the corner. He pulls out a mobile wipeout board, and begins writing numbers and drawing symbols on it. When he pulled away, the board reads:

Aradia Tavros Sollux Karkat Nepeta Kanaya Terezi Vriska Equius Gamzee Eridan Feferi

"Alright so, you said the John dude's birthday is April thirteenth, right? So, like, that's 4-13. 4 + 1 = 5 + 3 = 8. The eighth sign in the zodiac? Vriska. You get where I'm going?"

Karkat's eyebrows are raised. "Huh. Yeah... Yeah, that seems like a decent way to go about it." He turns back to his brothers. "Everyone else good with this?" Everyone nods, Vriska looking especially excited. "Alright. Now, what about the other kids?"

"You got their exact dates right, Nepi-pen?"

Nepeta mirrors Karkat's look, startled by Gamzee's odd nickname for her. "Yeah. Uh -" she looks back to the paper. "Jade is December first -"

1 + 2 = 3 + 1 = 4

Jade - Karkat

"Rose is December third -"

1 + 2 = 3 + 3 = 6

Rose - Kanaya

"And Dave is December fourth."

1 + 2 = 3 + 4 = 7

Dave - Terezi

There is a barely-audible yes! that comes from Terezi's direction. Karkat is frowning, and so is Nepeta. "So what about our secretary?" Aradia asks. "Actually on that note, how did she even become secretary?"

"Because Terezi's handwriting is illegible," Karkat says with a wave of his hand.

"Technically I'm the secretary," Terezi smiles. "But I employed Nepeta to get the handwriting done."

"You could have asked me!" Vriska belts.

Terezi puts a hand on her hip, glaring in her general direction. "Please, you put eight more everything than necessary. At least Nep's cat-puns don't compromise the integrity of the word." Vriska shrugs, but doesn't look the least bit ashamed.

"...Anyway," Karkat continues. "Aradia is right. Technically, Miss Leijon is a freshman and thereby needs a big before being formally inducted into our fraternity."

Nepeta quickly does the math in her head. 7 + 2 = 9 + 5 = 14. Hm. She supposes you could divide it by twelve, and the answer would be 1.2. Round that down, her big would be Tavros. She can live with this, he's pretty cute - "No." She looks to her left, where Equius stands. "She doesn't need a big, she has me."

Nepeta sighs. She loves Equius to death, but how does he expect her to live with him being so protective? She takes that back as soon as she thinks it, knowing full well she wouldn't know what to do without him.


	3. one more last try

"I HATE her!" There's no knock, Nepeta just flings herself into Kanaya and Terezi's room, throwing herself on Terezi's bed. Kanay's returned with laundry, which she's folding neatly and placing into a drawer. Terezi doesn't know why Kanaya bothers to do her laundry every day, but she guesses that's her prerogative. Terezi doesn't even bother to do it every week.

Kanaya raises an eyebrow. "I assume we're talking about Vriska?"

"Ye-hissssssssss," Nepeta growls. She wiggles, the tail pinned to the back of her pants moving with the rest of her body.

Kanaya sighs. Most of the people here are only barely friends with Vriska. She and Terezi are really the only exceptions. She can understand why Equius insisted that Nepeta room with Vriska - there are few better people you'd want on your side if something goes wrong. But their personalities are nowhere near compatible.

Kanaya gives up on folding her laundry. "I'm going out for a bit," she informs her roommate. Nepeta needs someone to talk to, and Kanaya doesn't know her well enough yet for Nepeta to feel comfortable confiding in her.

Terezi sits herself on the bed next to her cat-friend, gripping the sheets to pull herself up higher. "What's her problem now?"

"She's just - such a bitch!" Nepeta rearranges her body so that her head sits in Terezi's lap. Terezi pets her head, making sure to scratch her behind the ears. As far as she's concerned, Nepeta really is half-cat. "She makes fun of me all the time, of the way I dress and the things I like. She even -" Nepeta has to paws for a moment, feeling embarrassed to admit this even to Te-rawr-zi. "She read my di-rawr-y. So now she knows I like - well, who I like. What if she goes around and tells everyone?"

"She won't do that," Terezi assures her.

"What makes you so sure? I don't even get it, why do you like her?"

Terezi stops petting Nepeta's head. "She's difficult to get along with, that's for sure... But she's our friend. One day she just became part of the group. There's no real point in kicking her out now."

"Okay," Nepeta was frustrated now. "But how did she become part of the group? It's not like any of you like her."

Terezi smiles, but there's something off about it. "Now that's not entirely true. Don't tell Vriska that I'm telling you any of this, but she's a lot softer than she lets on." Nepeta snorts. "It's true! But her life hasn't been easy, even though she comes from a pretty wealthy family." Terezi grips her cane close to her, leaning on it. Nepeta is reminded of cartoons she has seen, in which old blind men tell epic stories. Although it's possible that this image is from a book she read. Sometimes the details get mixed up.

"Her family's very brutal, very cutthroat. They're an elitist bunch, so she was raised to believe she was better than everyone else. But her folks didn't exactly approve of Vriska. They thought she was weak, and it didn't help that she liked to hang out with us - with Aradia, Tavros and me. We were - what did they call us? Oh - 'low bloods,' or something like that. So Vriska was a wild child and had one hell of an anger. I think it's the abuse, it just does that to some people, when they get told they're not good enough and will never make it. In the end, it doesn't matter how nice people are to you. It only takes one breath to knock down a house of cards." Terezi shakes her head. "Anyway, that harsh personality is just part of who she's become, but she's trying to work on it, I promise you."

"It doesn't seem like it," Nepeta frowns. "I'm not sure I'm convinced."

Terezi lets the silence drown out the words, until she's sure it's okay to change gears a bit. "One night, after her mother had been particularly bitchy to her, Vriska got drunk off her ass and hopped in her car to come get us. We were all on our way to this park we used to hang out at, because we didn't live that far from each other. Well, we weren't really thinking then. We were teenagers, just kids. We thought it was funny, how out of it Vriska was. Well, Tavros didn't. He wanted her to pull over and let him drive. She sort of shrieked at him, but agreed. Too bad she was too drunk to get the reactions right. She ran us straight into oncoming traffic."

Nepeta's mouth is hanging open. "What?"

"There weren't too many people on the road that night, thank god. But the car did flip when she was trying to avoid everything. She and I got off pretty easy - glass from the window and debris cut me up pretty good, scarred my eyes so I need glasses now. She lost one eye and had to have major surgery on that arm of hers. Tavros - well, you know. He's been in a wheelchair ever since. Aradia got it the worst - she was in a coma for a little while."

"And you're still friends with her?" Nepeta shouts. She's foaming at the mouth, she's so angry.

"Yes," Terezi replies. "Because we were all a little at fault. We shouldn't have let her drive in the first place, none of us were wearing seatbelts, I was distracting her, the radio was on too loud -"

"She could have killed you!"

"She didn't. And it's not as though she did any of this on purpose. It was an accident, Nepeta. But the important thing to note is that she's been trying to make it up to us ever since. Haven't you noticed she's practically been throwing Tavros and Jade together? She wants him to be happy. She's been working on physical therapy with him, too. She helped Aradia pay for that studying abroad she did last year, that archaeology trip she was on. She also got Equius to leave her the hell alone after they broke up. Vriska's problem is that she still has this psychology that she has to prove something to somebody - to prove that she's strong enough to make it, that she's good enough. So of course she feels conflicted. But that's why we're still there for her. Somebody has to be. She didn't learn to hate on her own, she's not going to learn to love on her own either.

"Do you understand now?"

* * *

After talking to Terezi, Nepeta seems a little more receptive to the notion that Vriska isn't entirely a bad person. For reasons of her own, Terezi decides to meet Vriska for lunch and discuss her side of the story. After all, a good prosecutor must explore all angles of a case. Terezi wants to know Vriska's angle. Fortunately for Terezi, she never has to ask about Vriska's opinion.

"You have no idea what it's like rooming with a twelve-year-old." She's already primed and ready for sharing. "I mean, I know she isn't twelve. We all know that. But let's say we were walking down the street and passed her. What age would we think she is? We'd think she was twelve! And the way she talks is . . . ugh! I almost accidentally on purpose punched her in the face for squeeing. That's just an example, okay?"

"So . . . she has an annoying voice and odd sense of fashion? That's your only reason for hating her?" Terezi could have chosen a less blunt way to ask, but decides forwardness is best with Vriska.

Her notion is correct. "No. I mean . . .she has this obsession with relationships. She's all about pairing people up. What's the nerdy term for it? Coupling? Pairing? Ship-shipping! It's shipping! She spends a lot of her time shipping people in the household. Like, do you know who she ships me with? Equius! That oaf! I never even considered him to be an option, but since she pointed it out I'm thinking of making a move. That'd be a bad idea, seeing as she seems to think he has a secret admirer himself. You should see who she crushes on-"

"Vriska-"

"-It's practically everyone in the house! She loves every-"

"And she tells you this?"

There is a long pause that very easily could be solidified and sold as a product on eBay. The tension in the air is just that palpable. "Yes. No. I . . . read about it."

"Mmhm. Where?"

Vriska sounds stumped. "On . . . line."

Terezi squints. "What venue?"

"On . . . online. A website. That I don't know the name of."

"Vriska-"

"Okay it was her damn diary. You happy? Jesus, why you gotta fucking judge me. It's not like she was trying to hide it. It was out in the open, practically begging me to read it-"

"I'm sure it was." How would Terezi know? If she found a diary and could read it, she probably would. Perhaps the thing really was talking to Vriska, beckoning her to share in her roommates privacy.

But then again, this is Vriska. "I just wanted to know . . . I wanted to know what she thought. About everyone."

"About you, you mean?"

"Come on, Terezi, not everything is about me no matter how much more interesting that would be." Vriska lets out a heavy sigh before continuing. "She's annoying. That's the bottomline. She needs to grow up before-"

"What? Someone hurts her? Someone forces her to toughen up? Someone makes her feel weak?" Silence. Dead silence. Terezi has found it, the proverbial nail. She has struck it with a mighty blow. No baseless conjecture to be had here. She has figured out the problem. "I feel like," she begins, "you don't hate her as much as you say you do."

"Oh, what do you know?" Yes, bitterness. Venom. Terezi is on the right track if Vriska starts biting back like this.

So she continues. "There's nothing wrong with Nep. You know that very well. She's just innocent and young, much like our other freshies. Life's been kinder to her." She lets that sink in before continuing. "In my future line of work, that's the sort of innocence I think we'd like to protect."

"It's the sort of thing that leaves you heartbroken more often than not."

"So she hasn't tasted disappointment and unhappiness. Perhaps she will. Why rush it, though? Who knows what Nep will turn into should she encounter the cruelty, say, that you or Gamzee have?"

Terezi can practically hear Vriska biting her lip. Sipping her now lukewarm glass of iced tea, Terezi waits to hear the verdict. It comes in the form of the words, "Fucking analytical thinkers. Fucking you. Fucking Tavros . . . ." The griping continues as she gets up and leaves Terezi sitting at their table. Terezi smiles, knowing that's Vriska's personal way of letting her know she'd won that round.


	4. I'mma get the ending right

Equius was grateful that Eridan's presence in the room meant that Terezi didn't disturb them with her wake-up calls. However, rooming with Eridan had its drawbacks. Major drawbacks.

The first drawback Equius learned rather quickly: Eridan had a hell of a temper. Anything and everything could piss him off. He got pissed if Equius looked at him, and he got pissed when Equius wasn't looking at him. It made him more uncomfortable when Eridan got angry over the latter. Was the man so starved for attention that he craved a fight with everyone? He didn't doubt it. Fortunately, Equius was not the only one who had to endure Eridan's temper. Feferi had to deal with it a lot seeing as she was the one who tended to drag him to the gym, either for swim-team practice or exercise in general. Equius made a point of going to the gym whenever they weren't there, specifically to avoid Eridan. Eridan also bothered Vriska, though on some levels she seemed to enjoy it. Vriska liked attention, but didn't crave it to the extent that Eridan did. Equius felt most terrible for the freshman Jade. Eridan had taken an instant liking to her and even though it was plain to see that Tavros had fallen head over heels for the girl, Eridan flirted. Unfortunately for Jade, his idea of flirting was very . . . creepy. Somehow the guy knew how to make his height as intimidating as possible, and Jade's defensive brother and roommate were only so threatening. Honestly, Rose was more intimidating than John. Equius could easily pick John up and throw him across campus. Equius was glad that his protectiveness of Nepeta seemed to deter Eridan from seeking her affections. That meant he had one less headache to deal with.

Everyone had to put up with Eridan's temper and flirtatiousness. Equius's real problem with his roommate seemed to be his problem alone: Eridan was an insomniac. Every now and then he might lie down and close his eyes, but he never actually slept. A pin drop could bring his eyes open without a doubt. But all night long, the light on Eridan's computer kept Equius tossing and turning and unable to get one lick of sleep.

Tonight is the first night Equius actually gets a good night's rest. He'd mentioned to Gamzee what was keeping him up all night and somehow the guy had procured a damn blindfold of sorts that was specifically for sleeping. Equius can't help but breathe a sigh of relief when the material completely blocks out the light from Eridan's computer.

When Equius wakes up, he actually wakes up rather cheerful and ready to face the day. Until he takes the blindfold off.

"Son of a b—!" he cuts himself off. He jumps, side and arm hitting the wall hard as he leaps as far from the edge of the bed as possible. Standing over him with an odd look on his face is his roommate. "What are you doing?"

"You're wearing a blindfold. Why?"

"Seriously? You stand over me specifically to ask me why I'm wearing a fucking blindfold?!"

"Why? Does it bother you?" His expression turns a little too excited for Equius's comfort.

"Can you . . . can you get the hell away from me?"

"Why?"

"Say why one more time. Please. Say it."

At this point, Eridan leaves the room and the incident is mostly forgotten by the end of Equius's daily workout.

Until that night. That night, Eridan would find something else to pester Equius with. He no longer wore headphones. No. Headphones were apparently beneath him, now. He blasted whatever it was he was listening to, and he probably thought he seemed cool while he was doing it. Equius did not think it was cool.

Somehow, Gamzee manages to save him a second time. He gives Equius earplugs, and Equius can finally get to sleep again. Eridan doesn't bother Equius for at least another week.

The same thing happened Tuesday of the following week. Equius removes his blindfold to find Eridan standing over him. Equius actually throws something at his roommate this time. Unfortunately, Eridan dodges the alarm clock without delay. Then he actually has the nerve to ask, "What was that for?"

Removing the earplugs, he shouts, "Why are you being a goddamn creeper?!"

"This is creepy? I'm just standing here."

"If you were standing anywhere else in the room it'd be fine, but right there you are a creeper!"

Equius doesn't bother getting dressed. He just flings the plugs and mask onto the bed and leaves for the kitchen. Of course, he needs to replace the alarm clock later. When asked about the noise it had made upon making contact with the wall, he tells everyone it's Eridan's fault. Somehow Gamzee procures him another alarm clock, successfully convincing Equius that the juggalo is a living, walking general store.

The next morning, Equius meets his breaking point. Eridan is standing over his bed again, only this time he's standing at the foot of Equius's bed. When Equius glares at him, he replies, "Well, you said the other position was creepy. How about now?"

Equius has never cursed so much in his life. He would blame Karkat for being a bad influence, but ultimately he is positive that even a saint would curse upon coming in contact with Eridan fucking Ampora.

* * *

Every now and then, Eridan actually manages to close his eyes and catch a few minutes of rest. It's hard to predict when, and it's usually at the most inconvenient of times. However, when it does happen, he is thankful. It means he is not making a liar out of himself whenever he tells Feferi that yes, he does in fact get some sleep. He doesn't understand why she concerns herself over such small things. Can't she see that he's perfectly fine and healthy?

It happens one Sunday morning while he is listening to Marianas Trench. He simply closes his eyes and drifts off without a struggle or a complaint. It's rather nice. That is, until he wakes up. The first thing he notices when he comes to is the sound of air escaping through a small hole. Repeatedly. He comes to the conclusion that someone is breathing heavily through their nostrils. He then hears how close this individual is to them. Very close. Uncomfortably close. Close enough that there is a shadow that falls across Eridan's bed. When he finally opens his eyes, he jumps and lets out an impressively high-pitched scream he will never admit belongs to him.

Equius is standing at the head of Eridan's bed, breathing heavily through the nostrils, casting a shadow on Eridan's face, and holding a pillow. His lips are pressed in a thin line and the muscles in his neck are bulging. His jaw is tight and it looks like the man was moments from smother Eridan to death.

Eridan is about to call for help (although he's not positive anyone would come) when Equius whispers, "Do you understand now? Why your standing over my bed is creepy? Have I made my point clear?" It takes Eridan a moment for the words to register. When they do, he nods furiously. "Good. Because next time I catch you staring at me while I'm trying to sleep, don't think for one second I won't be waiting for you to fall asleep again. Next time, I'll have Nepeta's claws." With that, Equius tosses his pillow back onto his bed and leaves.

It is at that precise moment that Eridan decides he will never sleep again.


End file.
